Safety razor and protected blade



Feb. 23, 1943. v N. TESTI 2,311,913

SAFETY RAZOR AND PROTECTED BLADE Filed Oct. 4, 1941 I INVENTOR M'cfilcza' Patented Feb. 23, 1943 SAFETYiRAZOB AND PROTECTED BLADE Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass, assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Application October-4, 194 1, SerialNo. 413579 4, Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors. and inone aspect consists in a safety razor blade having a protective covering of novel form. Insanother aspect it consists in a novel combination of safety razor and protected blade, viz., a safety-- razor constructed and arranged to receivea blade with a protective cover and automatically to uncover the blade and expose its cutting edge for shaving.

In handling safety razor blades under commercial conditions of distribution and in casual handling by the user-the extremely fine keen edge of the blade is likely to become dulled by being brought into contact with its wrappings or other objects before the blade can be; actually cla-mped in shaving position in the razor. On this account the best and most: skillful blade-sharpening efforts of the manufacturer are brought to be of no avail because of the difficulty of preserving intact the. very'fragile and delicate structure of a blade which has" been brought to the keenest possible shaving edge.

With those conditions in view an important object of the present invention is to provide a safety razor blade having a novel protective cover normally projecting'over its cutting edge and protecting the latter from direct contact until after the blade has been actually placed in the safety razor'by the userwhere the edge of the blade is out of harms way. I have discovered that these and other desirable results may be achieved by providing a protective cover in the form of sheet material shaped: to enclose the blade, including its cutting edge, and with respect to which the blade may be moved in the safety razor so as to expose its cutting edge at or approximately at the time the blade is positioned in the razor for shaving.

In addition to the protective-function above discussed such a protective cover may beutilized to reenforce and stiffen the blade, not; only for purposes of distribution but also in shaving" position in the razor. In some instances, the protective cover may take the place of a cap or blade-clamping element in the safety razor. By applying a film of grease to the metal, surfaces of the blade the cover may be made to cling in a flat condition to both sides; of the blade thus protecting it against the dampness of the atmosphere and against electrolysis and corrosion inthe razor.

In accordance with my invention I propose to use for the blade a protective cover of card board or other stifi but flex hee mate such as Celluloid or thin sheet metal andI am thus enabled to. provide self-contained unit'having fiush surfaces that may be-han-. dled conveniently in automatic machinery orin blade magazines without danger to theblade or to the user. Moreover, by selecting various thicknesses of cover material Ican provide units of uniform thickness having blades which varyin thickness throughout an appreciable range. A

cover of tough flexible sheet material has theshown in the accompanying drawing, in which: 7

Fig. 1 is a view of a safety razor tected blade in end elevation;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the razor Fig. 1 with parts broken away and blade in process of being ejected;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but tain parts shown in'crosssection;

Figs. 4 and 5- are views in perspective on an enlarged scale of the protected blade shown respectively in retracted and protruded position; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a modified form of safety razor showing a blade positioned therein.

The invention is adapted to'many forms of single-edged blades. The blade l0 herein se-- lected for purposes of illustration is a narrow fiat-single-edged blade having one edge I l sharpened for cutting and its rear edge or back l2 unsharpened. While an imperforate blade is herein shown, any desirable perforation may appear in it and the covermay be correspondingly shaped to provide the necessary clearance.

The cover herein shown comprises upper and lower panels 13 and M of cardboard folded over or about the back or the blade and extending forwardly on both sides thereof-to a position slightly beyond its cutting edge ll. As already intimated the faces of the blade may be coated with grease, oil or other rust preventative which serves to maintain the panels of the cover permanently in fiat condition and lightly adhering or clinging to the metal faces of the blade. The cover is provided with a rectangular notch or recess l5 located midway between the ends of'the blade unitand made by: cuttingaway the fold vertex of the cover in an area extending forwardly for approximately half the width and proshown in with the with cerof the blade. Both faces and the back of the blade are thus exposed so that by suitable means the blade may be engaged and shifted in its cover.

The protected blade unit above described may be advantageously used in safety razors of various different types. That shown for purposes of illustration in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 comprises a forwardly and downwardly inclined blade-supporting member 20 merging at its rear end into an upright shank 2I which is seated in the end of a handle 22. The blade-supporting member 20 is provided near the lower edge of its face with a longitudinal rib or shoulder 23 and near its upper edge with a longitudinal rib 25, the said two ribs defining a blade seat in the razor for the protected blade unit. At its forward edge the blade-supporting member 20 is extended forwardly and downwardly in a curve providing a guard bar 24 and at both ends of this are located dogs or teeth 2] which constitute blade stops in that they engage the corners of the blade edge I I and determine the shaving position of the blade in the razor.

A spring hold-down clamp or cap 26 is secured to the shank 2| and is extended over the protected blade unit into engagement with its upper surface, serving to hold it at all times with yielding pressure in place upon the blade seat.

The razor includes blade pushing or advancing means, herein shown as comprising an upright leaf spring 30 provided at an intermediate point with headed operating stud 3| which extends forwardly and freely through a perforation in the shank 2I of the blade-supporting member. At its upper end the spring 30 is riveted or otherwise attached to a blade pushing block 32 which extends forwardly and registers with an opening provided for that purpose in the back of the hold-down 26 and in the rib 25. The block is flat enough to pass freely in the space between the cap 26 and the blade-support 20. In Figs. 1 and 2 the blade pusher is shown as in retracted position where the user may hold it by pressing rearwardly upon the operating stud 3|. The blade pusher is held in that position during the operation of ejecting from and replacing a blade in the safety razor.

A protected blade unit may be presented to the razor by pushing it endwise upon the blade seat into the razor beneath the hold-down 26 and, when the blade is properly presented, the recess I in the cover is located exactly in registration with the opening in the rib 25 and with the pusher block 32. When the protected blade unit has been so located and the operating stud 3| released by the operator the spring 30 will cause the pusher block 32 to advance and engage the back of the blade where it is exposed in the recess I5 and to push the blade forwardly in its cover or between the sides I3 and I4 of its cover. The lower cover panel I4 is held positively against forward movement with the blade by the rib 23 that defines a blade seat in the razor and the upper panel I 3 is held in place by its folded connection with the lower panel and by the yielding engagement of the spring cap 26. The rib 23 is of sufficient height to enclose the forward edge of the lower cover panel I4 but to permit the advancing edge of the blade to move freely over it. The advancing movement of the blade is continuous until the corners of its cutting edge I I are arrested by engagement with the teeth 21 and when these are reached the blade is held in accurate shaving position and maintained in position by the constant pressure of thespring 30 acting through the block 32. The forward movement of the blade is permitted by the clinging engagement of the oiled or greased cover panels, which, in turn, are always maintained in flat engagement with the faces of the blade.

It will be noted that the cap 26 engages the upper panel I3 of the protective cover at all times and that even in its protruded position substantially half the blade is still enclosed within its protective cover. Pressure of the cap 26 is transmitted by the panel I3 to an extended area adjacent to the cutting edge of the blade thus holding securely against vibration in the razor.

In Fig. 6 is shown an alternative form of safety razor in which th spring hold-down clamp 26 is dispensed with and other means are provided for holding the blade in shaving position. Instead of the teeth 21 which in the razor of Fig. 1 are merely abutments, the razor of Fig. 6 has overhanging hooks 40 which engage above the corners of the edge of the blade. The bladepushing block carried by the upper end of the spring 30 in the razor of Fig. 6 is grooved or forked at its lower edge and thereby holds the back of the blade positively in its inclined position. Accordingly when the spring 39 is permitted to move forwardly and advance the block 4|, the blade edge is advanced downwardly and forwardly from the protection of the cover panels I3 and I4 until its corners have passed beneath the hooks 40. Meanwhile the rear edge of the blade is positively held as already explained.

The precise shape of the recess or recesses in the protective cover I3I4 is of secondary importance so long as they permit the blad to be adequately engaged for the desired manipulation in the razor. While a single recess only is shown in the illustrated cover, spaced recesses may be provided and the pushing block correspondingly modified in shape, all within the scope of the invention.

It will also be apparent that any desired mechanical mechanism may be used for operating the blade pusher, if desired, in place of the spring means shown in the illustrated razor,

Having thus disclosed my invention and described two illustrative embodiments thereof in detail I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A safety razor blade having a sharp edge and an unsharpened back, together with protective sheets connected to each other across the back of the blade and normally extending at least to its sharp edge, said protective sheets having registering openings on opposite sides of the blade and substantially midway between the ends of the blade whereby the latter may be engaged and advanced to protrude its sharp edge beyond the outline of said protective sheets.

2. A safety razor blade having an edge sharpened for shaving and an unsharpened back, together with a protective cover of stiff sheet material folded over the back of the blade and held with its sides in flat clinging engagement with the fiat faces of the blade, the said cover being substantially co-extensive in length with the blade, extending at its free edges slightly beyond the sharpened edge of the blade and having in the middle of its fold vertex a cut-away portion exposing a short length of the blade back and adjacent areas of both faces of the blade, whereby the blade may be engaged and slipped 4. A safety razor having opposed members with clamping faces, one of which comprises a ,blade seat bounded by spaced upper and lower transverse ribs, a blade enclosed within a smooth protective cover of stiff sheet material and located in said blade seat with the lower edge of its cover held behind the lower of said ribs, and means in the razor for advancing the blade over said lower rib while its cover is held stationary 10 thereby in the razor.

NICHOLAS TESTI. 

